HP Gaming Pavilion 15 review: Lightweight, scores big on design and performance

Rating: ****

Price: Rs 97,790

Specifications: 15.6-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels), 8th generation Intel Core i5/i7 processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD or 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, Nvidia GTX 1050 TI GPU (4GB dedicated memory), HDMI, headphone/microphone combo, Ethernet, 1 x USB Type-C, 3 x USB 3 ports, SD card reader, 3-cell battery, Windows 10, 2.14kg


Pros: Lightweight and sleek for a gaming laptop, stylish design, great performance, matte finish display, slim bezels, loud audio output, compact charging brick

Cons: Screen brightness could be better, average battery life, sub-par webcam, skips the dedicated microphone port

HP’s range of gaming machines usually have the OMEN moniker. OMEN is a dedicated gaming range so usually comes at a premium. To bring more powerful gaming laptops within reach, HP has launched the Gaming Pavilion 15.

They’ve taken the aesthetics of a standard pavilion laptop and fused it with those of a gaming laptop. The result is a lightweight (2.14 kg) laptop but with the cool quotient you expect from a gaming one. It has matte finish keyboard with purple backlight, purple accents around the logo and at the bottom, large heat vents on the rear plus highlighted WSAD gaming keys. Another thing we loved is that HP has provided a relatively compact power adapter when compared to the bulky bricks you usually get with these high power machines.

On the left side are two USB 3.0 ports and a SD card reader while the right has a USB Type-C port, USB 3.0 port, HDMI, Ethernet and a headphone/microphone combo port. The USB Type-C port is a welcome addition as it enables expansion of ports using an adapter. What we did not like was the lack of a dedicated microphone and headphone slots. Many gamers prefer to use dedicated gaming headsets and these will require separate headphone and microphone ports.



The screen is 15.6-inches with 9.8mm slim bezels. While this does not quite bring it down to the chassis of of 14-inch laptop, it does feel compact for a 15.6-inch. The screen has full HD resolution that keeps everything sharp. Good viewing angles and a matte finish layer help to minimize glare. However, we did feel that the brightness levels could have been better.

Our review unit was the top-of-the-line variant with 8th generation Core i7 processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, Nvidia GTX 1050 TI GPU and 128GB RAM + 1TB HDD. It’s a great that HP has not cut corners and offers a 7,200rpm hard drive on the laptop. While the GPU is a mid-range offering from Nvidia, the Core i7 and SSD help in delivering good gaming performance. We were able to run STALKER: Call of Pripyat at ultra settings and got over 100fps. With PUBG, we did face random frame drops when playing at high settings but a majority of the time there was no issue. When it comes to performance, the Gaming Pavilion is suitable for a majority of new games at medium or high graphics settings. Photo editing of RAW images in Lightroom was smooth and there was no issue with 4K videos either. During gaming, the cooling fans kick in at high speed after about 10 minutes. Thankfully, they do not get too loud and manage to keep the laptop cool during stress.

Some of the other things we liked were the loud and clear speakers, ergonomic keyboard with numpad, large and responsive trackpad and the wide-angle webcam. What we did not like was the poor quality of the webcam and the average battery life — we managed to get between 3 to 5 hours of battery life depending on the kind of use.

As an offering aimed to make gaming laptops become more reachable, the HP Gaming Pavilion delivers on design as well as performance. However, there are other companies also working on the concept of affordable gaming laptops. At around the same price, you can also consider MSI’s GL63 gaming range that offers similar hardware, features and performance but with red backlighting and separate ports for headphone and microphone.